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Pierpaolo Piccioli’s fall 2026 collection for Balenciaga, which is his second as the house's creative director and his first that includes menswear, is titled “Body and Being.” Not only does this outing include collaborations with the NBA and Manolo Blahnik, but it's also a mix of aesthetic ideologies—at least, at first glance. The lookbook follows a unique cast of actors, artists, musicians, and models, including Alice Da Luz, Laufey, Sarah Catherine Hook, Eliot Sumner, Juyeon, Rachel Marx, and many more, through their busy lives. They wear sculptural peacoats over their Lycra sets and sequined skirts with sports bras to the gym. They commute in a leather jacket and shorts, sleeves tucked into opera gloves, leggings layered beneath denim cutoffs. As the press release states, the goal was to bring “occasion to the everyday.”
model showcasing a fashion design with a number card
Thomas Kublin, Balenciaga Archives Paris
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courtesy of Balenciaga
Piccioli debuted his vision for Balenciaga in October of last year with a collection that mingled references from all his predecessors, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquière, and Demna, in its focus on refined yet provocative shapes. This collection dove further into those contradictions. In his trip through the archives, Piccioli shows us how some of Cristóbal’s most splendid feats of eveningwear construction can translate to casual wear. This season, he repeatedly nodded to an element of the winter 1966 collection featuring a dramatic hood worn over a refined, short-billed wool cap with an extended crown. Today’s version extends the hat’s bill just a tad but retains the effect. Piccioli's simple car coats evoke Cristóbal’s cocoon shapes, a trademark of the house’s founder. A piece continued from last season, what could perhaps be described as a leather bomber jacket, but only loosely, pulls inspiration from the dramatic, wrapped capes of formal silhouettes from the 1960s.
fashion model showcasing an outfit with a coat and headscarf
Thomas Kublin, Balenciaga Archives Paris
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courtesy of Balenciaga
Piccioli also used a second-skin ProBody performance fabric that’s moisture-wicking, breathable, and antibacterial. There are Lycra workout sets worn with sequined coats and supersized sneakers, gym shorts worn with sculptural leather jackets and zip-up sweaters. As for the NBA collaboration, pieces include T-shirts, tracksuits, and varsity and coach jackets rendered in leather, nylon, satin, regenerative cotton poplin, and Japanese denim. They play on the colors of the NBA logo, electric blue, scarlet, and white, merged with black, a color synonymous with Balenciaga throughout its trajectory. Each item is marked with the number 10, or “le dix,” which refers to the historic address of Maison Balenciaga. “I believe sport is one of the most powerful ways to express values such as excellence, integrity, and respect,” said Piccioli in an official statement.
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courtesy of Balenciaga
For those who prefer to play off the court, Balenciaga and Piccioli also collaborated with Manolo Blahnik on three styles of shoes for the collection. A low-heeled mule and a slingback are available in two heights. Each silk satin shoe features crystal embellishment across a low-cut vamp. “Don Cristóbal Balenciaga is, to me, the ultimate designer,” said Blahnik. “I have adored his work for as long as I can remember.” Aside from working with Blahnik on the capsule, the in-house footwear this season includes ballet sneakers (which fold in half for commuters) and loafers with a cushioned Lycra interior. Elsewhere in the collection, Balenciaga’s Le City bag gets a new, more defined shape. The lookbook also features the new Le7, a leather top-handle tote. It even spans to include a Balenciaga-stamped fitness mat.
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courtesy of Balenciaga
The overall result of Piccioli's new Balenciaga mash-up collection feels a post-quiet-luxury statement about the chaos of this particular moment. Many of us are confused, ready to embrace a certain degree of formality but not prepared to relinquish the ease and practicality of leisure wear. Piccioli proposes an answer. And, in doing so, threads the needle between Balenciaga's previous creative director, Demna, and Cristóbal’s radical elegance.
models wearing balenciaga fall 2026 collection
Open Gallery